However, when one goes badly, it can be very expensive - hence the reason to spend $500 - $1K upfront to determine if you have contamination or not.If you find a mess, walk away and the lender/bank will have to disclose - in some jurisdictions they may have to remediate before they can sell.

If you're going to spring a claim of a environmental contamination on the seller, you're going to have to, IMHO, provide some sort of third party validation to support the claim.

SFH isolates bad tenants, so they don't contaminate the other tenants.The popular slogan here on BP is that more doors is better.

Here buildings of more than 4-units are also required to have backflow prevention on the water supply into the building (so you cannot contaminate the water supply).

Hm.....the media would have a field day with a situation where the VA would be responsible (even if it was one of their subs) contaminating a river, that flows into Portland.

The $450K is probably the amount the owner owed the Bank.The sheriff does NOT list the upset prices.I would say the most important things to look into before buying at sheriff sale in NJ:1. tax liens2. condo liens3. primary lien that might survive the sale4. oil tank or other contamination - need of remediation5. know if property is occupied or vacant6.

You could go to the property and find that some crack head was cooking in a vacant unit, after a near miss with death and the police leaving, you could get a letter in a couple days from the city condeming the property due to contamination by the crack head.

Eric,Unless there was a leak or contamination the EPA would not be involved and there would not be a need for a NFA  letter.

I found out that in the 80's, that site contained a small gas station which had a contamination issue. 

Helens any decade - but has not erupted for 11000 years3) There is a former mercury mine and superfund site at Sulphur Bank Mine that has contaminated the lake4) Lakeport lakefront area tends to flood in the winter...